Child&#39;s play tent



June 28, 1966 s. E. MCDONALD 3,258,020

CHILD'S PLAY TENT Filed June 8, 1964 FIG.3.

INVENTOR STUART E. McDONALD United States Patent 3,258,020 CHILDS PLAY TENT Stuart E. McDonald, 107 Ruskin Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Filed June 8, 1964, Ser. No. 373,205 6 Claims. (Cl. 135-1) This invention relates to a childs play tent and appertains particularly to a lightweight, easily carried tepee or wigwam suitable for use indoors or outdoors.

An object of the invention is to provide a tepee-style tent in which the covering is secured on a plurality of staves designed to be arranged conically and that are otherwise connected only by a flexible thong threaded through their upper ends.

A further object of the invention is to provide a childs play tepee in which the opposite ends of the wrap-around covering overlap to provide a completely encircling enclosure yet one end of which may be freely swung away to supply a door opening affording unimpeded access.

A further object of the invention is to provide .a tepee employing no separable or extraneous parts, and that may be instantly set up or taken down even by a child, without the use of tools or equipment of any kind.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible tepee in which the throng-connected staves are specially proportioned in length to so project and cross at the top as to wedge against one another when the tepee is set up.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a childs play tent or tepee characterized by structural simplicity, durability and low cost of production whereby the same is rendered commercially desirable.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can be more clearly described when reference is had to the drawings forming a part of this disclosure wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the tepee, with the ends of the cover in overlapping relation so that the door flap is closed;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective detail of the upper ends of two adjacent staves of different length, showing the flexible thong threaded therethrough; and

FIGURE 3 is an elevational detail of the foot of one of the staves.

Referring particularly to these drawings, it will be seen that the tepee comprises a covering 5 secured to and supported by a plurality of conically arranged poles or staves 6 that are otherwise secured together only by a flexible thong 7 threaded through perforations 6a near their upper ends and tied.

In the model illustrated, there are eight of these staves 6 wrapped around by the cover 5 whose opposite ends 5a and 5b affixed to staves designated 6b and 6c are in overlapped relation. The outer overlapped end 5a affixed to stave 6b constitutes the door flap which may be opened by swinging the stave 6b to the side thereby affording unimpeded access to the enclosure.

If all the thong-connected staves 6 were of equal length, their upper ends would abut or interfere with one another and preventthe easy spreading of their lower ends in normal tripod or conical style. Accordingly, I have found it satisfactory to provide staves of different length so that some project farther above the connecting thong 7 than others do; for instance, if each second stave projects ice six or eight inches above the thong and the alternate or intermediate ones project only one inch thereabove, an effective top end pattern results with the four longer poles crossing and wedging against each other in two overlapping pairs substantially at right angles whilst the short top staves nestle easily within them. Though the alternating of shorter and longer staves is useful as above mentioned, it is essential that the stave 6b carrying the outer overlapped end or door flap 5a be a short stave to enable itto be swung first outwardly so its lower end clears the ground and then sideways to open the entrance, without its upper end being interfered with or obstructed by the upwardly projecting ends of other staves.

The projecting upper ends of the longer staves are shown as curved outwardly which imparts a more natural appearance to them but seems also to facilitate their hinging open and falling into pattern when the tepee is being set up.

FIGURE 3 shows the lower end of stave 6 with a taper 6 and a semispherical rubber tip 8 secured thereto as by an indriven pin or screw part 8a. Such a pointed end enables the stave 6 to be the more readily stuck into a lawn or alternatively, the rubber provides a non-skid tip if the tepee be set up indoors.

To assure the play tent is kept cool and ventilated, it is desirable that the covering 5 terminate six inches or so above ground level and that there be a sufficient size smoke-hole at the top.

Instead of making the covering 5 of a single sheet of fabric, it may be fashioned from several overlapped strips, as shown, which can be gaily coloured to lend added attractiveness to the tepee.

The tepee may be removed and transported by simply raising the lower end of the staves from the ground, when the whole structure collapses as the staves all fold in together in a bunch so that the tepee may be picked up and carried under the arm.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that a childs play tent is provided that will fulfill all the necessary requirements of such a device, but as many changes could-be made in the above description and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may be constructed within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matters contained in the said accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitative or restrictive sense.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A childs play tent comprising a plurality of staves each having a perforation near its upper end; a flexible thong threaded through the perforations in said staves and joining them together; and an enclosure-encircling covering secured to said staves with its opposite ends arranged in overlapped relation.

2. A childs play tent comprising a plurality of staves each having a perforation near its upper end; a flexible thong threaded through the perforations in said staves and joining them together; and an enclosure-encircling covering secured to said staves with the opposite ends of the enclosure-encircling cover affixed to adjacent staves positioned to cause the ends of the covering to lie in freely separable, normally overlapped relation.

3. A childs play tent comprising a plurality of staves each having a perforation near its upper end, the upper ends of some of said staves projecting above the perforation more than others; a flexible thong threaded through the perforations in said staves and joining them together; and an enclosure-encircling covering secured to said staves with the opposite ends of the enclosureencircling covering afiixed to adjacent staves that may be positioned to cause the ends of the covering to lie in overlapped relation.

4. The tent structure according to claim 3, wherein alternate staves have longer upper ends than those that lie between them which facilitates their hinging and the crossing of their top ends when the tent is set up.

5. The play tent structure according to claim 3, wherein alternate staves have longer upper ends than those that lie between them and the outer overlapped end of said covering is afiixed to a stave with a shorter upper end thereby enabling it to be swung freely to provide a door opening, Without its upper end being interfered with or obstructed by the upwardly projecting ends of the longer staves,

6. A childs tepee-style tent comprising a plurality of staves each having a perforation near its upper end, the upper ends of alternate staves having outwardly curved longer ends above the thong-passing perforation than those that lie between them and each stave being tapered at its lower end; a non-skid tip on the tapered lower end of each stave; a flexible thong threaded through the perforations in said staves and tied to join said staves together; and an encircling covering secured to said staves and providing a completely enclosed structure with the opposite ends of said cover affixed to adjacent staves and designed to lie in freely separable, normally overlapped relation, the outer overlapped end of said covering being affixed to one of the staves with a shorter upper end whereby it may be swung aside to provide a door opening without its upper end being interfered with or obstructed by the upwardly projecting ends of the longer staves.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,783,766 3/1957 Kohlbeck 135-4 2,842,145 7/1958 Wilson 135-4 2,879,780 3/1959 Arbore 1354 3,042,052 7/1962 Des Rosier 135-1 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

L. I. SANTISI Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CHILD''S PLAY TENT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STAVES EACH HAVING A PERFORATION NEAR ITS UPPER END; A FLEXIBLE THONG THREADED THROUGH THE PERFORATIONS IN SAID STAVES AND JOINING THEM TOGETHER; AND AN ENCLOSURE-ENCIRCLING COVERING SECURED TO SAID STAVES WITH ITS OPPOSITE ENDS ARRANGED IN OVERLAPPED RELATION. 